Keepeb



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CALVIN ADAMS, OF OAK HILL, NEW YORK.

KEEPER FOR RIGHT AND Speccaton of Letters Patent No To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, CALVIN ADAMS, of Oak I-Iill, in the county of Greene and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Keepers of Right and Left, or Janus-Faced, Door- Locks; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being` had to the accompanying drawings, making a part4 of this specification, in which Figure 1 represents in perspective one of the locks in question, with the keeper. Fig, 2, represents a View from the edge of the lock, showing the keeper in section, and also showing in red lines, the position of the keeper when turned over or upside down to make it and the lock, applicable to a right or left hand door, as may be required.

Similar letters of reference, where they occur in the separate figures, denote like parts of the lock and keeper, in both.

Letters Patent of the United Stat-es were granted to John P. Sherwood, on the 17th December 1842, and afterward extended, for seven years from and after the expiration of the first term, viz: to the 17th December 1863, for an improvement, in what are now known as, Janus-faced locks that is, for locks that were equally applicable to a right and left hand door.. But in the lock thus patented to said Sherwood, the bolt had to be taken out of the lock, and turned over, to change it from a right to a left hand lock, and vice versa, and the lock again put together, which was easy enough for a carpenter, or mechanic to do, but not so for one who was not a mechanic, or had not the necessary tools to do it with. Besides, these Janus-faced locks, are, what is known as, cheap locks, that is to say, of cast iron, almost entirely; and the ,case and plates are so cast, as to hold the parts, by simply laying them in their places, and screwing the case and plates together, and this is a main feature in their cheap production. When an inexperienced person undertook, to open such a lock, in order to turn over the bolt, the parts would drop out, or get out of placemore especially the spring, which threw the bolt, and was only laid into its position, and not fastened except by the plates of the lock. The object in turning the bolt over in the lock, or upside down, was that, the bevel on the bolt, should come right for the keeper; and this involved LEFT' HAND .DOOR-LOCKS.

. 16,676, dated February 24, 1857.

the unscrewing, opening, turning the bolt, and then screwing together again of the lock.

The object of my invention is t-o avoid all this trouble, and still make the lock adaptable to the right or left hand door. This I have done, and it is this special improvement on Sherwoods lock, that makes the Janusfaced lock, so desirable. My '1mprovement cannot be considered as a simple change of parts, to effect the same purpose, because in preserving all the benefit of the Sherwood lock, I avoid all its objections. Sherwood made a lock, which after it left the factory, and was in the hands of the consumer, had to be opened, altered, or changed to adapt it to its special place. I take Sherwoods lock and so improve its parts, without adding to its cost, as that it is ready when it leaves the factory, to go into any door whether a right or left hand door.

The nature of my invention may be summed up as follows,viz: The use ofablunt bolt, and beveled keeper, in connection with a double, or Janus faced lock, so that the said lock, when put together in the factory, shall be ready for a right or leftl hand door, without opening, altering, or changing any of its parts.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe the same with reference to the drawings.

A represents the case of the lock, and B, the face plate, both finished, so as to go onto the door either side out. C, C, the handles. The interior and exterior of the lock, may be like Sherwoods in every respect,-I claim nothing within the lock at all. And the only change I make in any part of the lock, is to make its bolt D, blunt, (as shown in the drawings)-I mean that end of the bolt which protrudes from the lock case. By the word blunt, I mean, with just enough finish on its end and corners, to take off the sand marks, and to dress up the bevel usually allowed for drawing the pattern from the sand. Otherwise it might be square. But my improvement consists mainly in the keeper E, when used with the blunt bolt, and double faced lock. The edge and face of the keeper, we furnished with a long beveled plane F, so that whichever end of the keeper is placed upward on the door frame, the bolt D, which is always on the upper part of the lock will strike against said beveled surface. By so constructing the keeper, a latch piece or bolt that is blunt on its outer end may be forced back as readily as a common beveled latch by its ordinary keeper.

I am perfectly aware that, a short inclined plane has been used on a keeper, over which a drop-latch will rise, but such keepers can only be used with just such a door as they are specially made for, and no others and I therefore lay no claim to any such keepers. fvIy bolt or latch piece, is a sliding one, that is moving endwise in and out of the case. It is so of necessity, so that the lock can be made available for either kind of a door; and my keeper can be turned' either end up, and still catch the bolt. These two changes, which do not add at all to the original cost of the lock, preserves the leading property of the lock, and avoid the necessity, as in Sherwoods lock, of opening, unscrewing, turning the bolt, or in any manner changing the lock, or any part of it, after it leaves the factory.

I am not aware that, a keeper has ever before been made, that could be put on the door either end up, and still catch a bolt or latch piece that was always put on the door in a special manner. I am satisfied that, no J anus faced lock, ever has been made that would fit either a right or left hand door, without some change of its parts, before I devised the keeper, for which I now ask a patent, and made the bolt blunt, or without a bevel, as herein stated.

My invention may be deemed but an improvement upon Sherwoods lock, and must be held subject to his patent. This is probably the case, for without Sherwoods invention, my improvement would be of little value, but the same may be said with great truth, of my improvement, for without it,

the lock as Sherwood devised it, was not economical in the particulars pointed out. There may be a difference of opinion, as to what my improvement consists in, but that it is an improvement, and a valuable one, there can be no doubt, when the objections it obviates are considered. If my improvement consists in merely changing the bevel from the boltl to the keeper, it would still, not come under what is termed a mere change of parts to produce the same eect7 because the change obviates the taking of the lock apart, or in any way changing any part of the lock or keeper, after they are puttogether in the factory. If it consists in the form or shape of the keeper so that it will receive the lock and latch bolts both, regardless of which of its end are uppermost, it is still important in connection with the blunt bolt and double faced lock. I shall therefore claim the beveled keeper in combination wit-h a blunt bolt, and double faced, or right, and left hand, lock, though not feeling certain but that the claim should rest upon the keeper alone.

Having thus fully described the nature of my invention, and pointed out wherein it differs from any other things known for a similar purpose,

lVhat I claim therein as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is, y

The use of a beveled keeper such as described, when employed in connection with a double-faced lock having a blunt bolt, so that the lock may be used on a right or left hand door, without changing any of its parts, as herein set forth.

CALVIN ADAMS.

Vitnesses:

IVM. PADDOCK, WVM. DE WITT; 

